Don't know what route to go down to try and get a refund/compensation

lichio2024

I booked holiday accommodation for a weekend away with friends via booking.com back in July (for a weekend at the end of September). The property was advertised as having six beds (two twin rooms, one single, one sofa bed). There were six of us staying.
When we arrived on the Friday night it became apparent there was no sofa bed. The property in general wasn't great and didn't look like the photos, but the missing bed was the biggest issue! We immediately contacted booking.com and the property owner. The property owner replied to confirm that the landlord had removed the sofa bed "that morning". It was plainly untrue but whatever. They offered no solution at first. They would only WhatsApp, not discuss on a call. By 9pm we had no choice but to book a Travelodge for two nights. They suggested we sleep on the sofa (not a sofa bed and no bedding!!) but we are all women in our later forties, so noone was up for this! They eventually emailed a link to the cheapest place they could find on booking.com which was a room in a shared house with a shared bathroom for £120. This did not feel safe, and at 9pm, not really an option. They then said £120 was the most they were prepared to offer. They have not actually paid this though.

After the weekend I attempted to contact booking.com both via their customer service chat (which they just don't reply to), and phone (the line often just cut out shortly after I got through). I am seeking to recover the £180 for the cost of the Travelodge, but also ideally the costs for the taxis to and from, and also compensation for a spoiled weekend.

The current status is that booking.com "emailed through my request" to the property owner but have said that if they don't reply then it is up to me to pursue this directly. That was two week ago. I have been away so have not had time to chase.

I initially paid via booking.com on a credit card. For some inexplicable reason the property owners refunded the whole amount directly to my card a week later and then sent me a new link to pay
 Annoyingly I then paid with my debit card by mistake. (I did check with booking.com at the time as I was concerned it seemed odd to pay outside of booking.com, but they said it was fine). My booking remained active on booking.com the whole time.

Where I am now stuck is knowing the best way to retrieve my money. Do I need to continue via booking.com or directly to the property owners? Is there any recourse via my debit card or should I use money claim online?

I'm still furious with the whole thing so want to make sure I pursue it the best way possible. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

born_again

lichio2024 said:

I booked holiday accommodation for a weekend away with friends via booking.com back in July (for a weekend at the end of September). The property was advertised as having six beds (two twin rooms, one single, one sofa bed). There were six of us staying.
When we arrived on the Friday night it became apparent there was no sofa bed. The property in general wasn't great and didn't look like the photos, but the missing bed was the biggest issue! We immediately contacted booking.com and the property owner. The property owner replied to confirm that the landlord had removed the sofa bed "that morning". It was plainly untrue but whatever. They offered no solution at first. They would only WhatsApp, not discuss on a call. By 9pm we had no choice but to book a Travelodge for two nights. They suggested we sleep on the sofa (not a sofa bed and no bedding!!) but we are all women in our later forties, so noone was up for this! They eventually emailed a link to the cheapest place they could find on booking.com which was a room in a shared house with a shared bathroom for £120. This did not feel safe, and at 9pm, not really an option. They then said £120 was the most they were prepared to offer. They have not actually paid this though.

After the weekend I attempted to contact booking.com both via their customer service chat (which they just don't reply to), and phone (the line often just cut out shortly after I got through). I am seeking to recover the £180 for the cost of the Travelodge, but also ideally the costs for the taxis to and from, and also compensation for a spoiled weekend.

The current status is that booking.com "emailed through my request" to the property owner but have said that if they don't reply then it is up to me to pursue this directly. That was two week ago. I have been away so have not had time to chase.

I initially paid via booking.com on a credit card. For some inexplicable reason the property owners refunded the whole amount directly to my card a week later and then sent me a new link to pay
 Annoyingly I then paid with my debit card by mistake. (I did check with booking.com at the time as I was concerned it seemed odd to pay outside of booking.com, but they said it was fine). My booking remained active on booking.com the whole time.

Where I am now stuck is knowing the best way to retrieve my money. Do I need to continue via booking.com or directly to the property owners? Is there any recourse via my debit card or should I use money claim online?

I'm still furious with the whole thing so want to make sure I pursue it the best way possible. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

I'm confused as to why they would refund & ask you to pay again, which was for what?
As well as you paying.

How many rooms was the £180 Travelodge for?
As in reality any claim would be for one room, as while not the best outcome, the rest could still have stayed at the rental.

lichio2024

I didn't understand the refund and repayment either. That was back in July though, just after we booked. I mentioned that just because a) it means that the payment is no longer on a credit card, annoying, and b) because I then paid outside of booking.con.

The room was just for one person, for two nights. The other five slept in the property. But there was literally no place for the sixth person to sleep.

Also worth mentioning that we put in six as the occupancy on the booking 

born_again

lichio2024 said:

I didn't understand the refund and repayment either. That was back in July though, just after we booked. I mentioned that just because a) it means that the payment is no longer on a credit card, annoying, and b) because I then paid outside of booking.con.

The room was just for one person, for two nights. The other five slept in the property. But there was literally no place for the sixth person to sleep.

Also worth mentioning that we put in six as the occupancy on the booking 

So you might have a chargeback for not as described on the property & paying direct makes it easier. But it would only get back 1/6 of the booking cost.

Speak to your bank about the chargeback. 👍

lichio2024

Why only 1/6 of the booking refunded for chargeback? That would be less than £100.
That wouldn't cover the cost, and I feel I'd rather pursue small claims (money claim online?) if that was the case. 
If I did that should I put the property owners or booking.com on the form? 
The owners have openly admitted that the property was not as described, on WhatsApp, and have already offered a refund (but they are now ignoring any attempt to get them to follow through)

born_again

lichio2024 said:

Why only 1/6 of the booking refunded for chargeback? That would be less than £100.
That wouldn't cover the cost, and I feel I'd rather pursue small claims (money claim online?) if that was the case. 
If I did that should I put the property owners or booking.com on the form? 
The owners have openly admitted that the property was not as described, on WhatsApp, and have already offered a refund (but they are now ignoring any attempt to get them to follow through)

Because that is the difference between advertised & what you received. That is all you are able to claim.

Okell

@lichio2024 -  this is probably a stupid question but you haven't actually made it clear:  presumably 5 of you stayed at the accommodation as planned and the sixth person had to go to the Travelodge?

lichio2024

Yes, the sixth person stayed in the Travelodge, the other five in the property 

Aylesbury_Duck

lichio2024 said:

Why only 1/6 of the booking refunded for chargeback? That would be less than £100.
That wouldn't cover the cost, and I feel I'd rather pursue small claims (money claim online?) if that was the case. 
If I did that should I put the property owners or booking.com on the form? 
The owners have openly admitted that the property was not as described, on WhatsApp, and have already offered a refund (but they are now ignoring any attempt to get them to follow through)

For what?  The court won't award you more than you incurred in cost.

lichio2024

The £180 was for one room, for two nights. In a popular tourist city over a weekend, and booked at the very last minute, it actually felt reasonable. 
It did slightly ruin the weekend though, which was a university reunion, as we weren't all together and the first night was entirely spent trying to communicate with the property owners. 

Had they offered to bring over a blow up mattress and bedding we might have accepted that. But their only suggestion was a) a completely inappropriate alternative some distance away in shared accommodation, or b) someone slept on a very small sofa with no bedding 

lichio2024

Aylesbury_Duck said:

lichio2024 said:

Why only 1/6 of the booking refunded for chargeback? That would be less than £100.
That wouldn't cover the cost, and I feel I'd rather pursue small claims (money claim online?) if that was the case. 
If I did that should I put the property owners or booking.com on the form? 
The owners have openly admitted that the property was not as described, on WhatsApp, and have already offered a refund (but they are now ignoring any attempt to get them to follow through)

For what?  The court won't award you more than you incurred in cost.

For the cost of the hotel we had to book? That was £180. Plus the cost of taxis to and from the hotel to the accommodation. 
The 1/6 of the booking would have been about £80. I don't see why I should be out of pocket because the property owner had, by their own admission, removed one of the beds?
I do appreciate that my own feeling of being aggrieved holds no weight legally, which is why I'm asking, but what I incurred in cost was just over £200, which is more than someone suggested I could get via chargeback.